The past two weeks have been fun and have felt very normal. We have been busy but not too busy and no one has been sick. Josh worked the Sports and Entertainment Expo one weekend so the kids and I went to the zoo. Mallory is such a great baby. This is her cat napping in the stroller.

One day last week I changed her diaper and went to get more wipes. When I came back she had fallen asleep and it was still and hour and a half until nap time!

One of the last snow days we had, Josh had taken my car to work and we were caught up on chores so we played and made messes all day. One of the kids favorite things to do is platy with goop. It is a mixture of cornstarch, water, and food coloring. I let them go crazy with it and this is what I ended up with.

Thankfully it cleans up really easily!

Kinley's has two new sayings "trust me on this" and "you are such a meanie".

We also counted every hat in the house. We have 33 hats! Then we tried them all on. James is so handsome!

He managed to wear 12 hats at once!

One afternoon we had to go to the doctor so Mallory didn't get a nap. I rocked her and we took a little cat nap together. I never get to hold her sleeping because the other two keep me so busy. It is a rare and fleeting treat!

We went to an infectious disease specialist for Kinley's fever. My doctor was afraid she had Rheumatic Fever because her hand had swollen up twice for no apparent reason, she'd had a long term low grade fever, and we had found a heart murmur. The specialist looked her over really well and listened to our story. He felt that she was just dealing with little everyday viruses back to back and the three issues were just a coincidence and not a sign of a bigger infection. He told me to quit taking her temperature and move on. That is what I needed to hear. I was getting a little crazy over it all.

Mallory has been experimenting with biter biscuts, puffs, and sippy cups. She seems to like them all and is getting better at the motor control it takes to enjoy them.

Granddad, Nana, and Aunt Jennifer came to visit this weekend. We took them to the zoo. Every time I am there with the kids they beg to ride the carousel or train and I always say "not today, maybe when we have a grand parent with us you'll get to". So we walk by the carousel and James says "hey mom, granddad is here, so he can pay for us to ride the carousel!" He definitely has the system figured out! We are so spoiled by our parents. It is a huge blessing to get to do fun things and have luxuries to enjoy with our kids.

James has been asking a lot of questions about salvation. He has even begged to have Jesus in his heart on three different occasions. I always tell him that Jesus will knock on his heart and we will all know when it's the right time. I'm not so sure that is the right thing to do anymore. We have a lot of conversations about sin and what Jesus did for us so I think it is all starting to come together in his mind and heart. I used to think it was one specific moment that a person is saved but I'm not so sure that is true. I think it might be a season of learning and believing then there comes a moment when you claim it out loud and another moment where hopefully you are baptized and share your salvation with the world. Then I think there are many seasons and moments where you have the choice to choose God's path or your own (nothing to do with salvation) I think James' moment of speaking his belief and choosing God's path for this part of his journey is coming soon. Say a prayer for him and us during this very important season.

We have the best backyard for little boys. They were bringing dirt back from the Chili Bowl and an array of dirt moving machinery made the tallest dirt hill we've ever had. This particular day we were babysitting Ezra and Levi. All 4 of them stayed out there in the cold north wind for and hour watching with jaws on the ground.

Kinley has continued to have a low grade fever so we went back to the doctor. They ordered a lot of blood work, a urine culture and, due to a heart murmur, an ultrasound of her heart. We did the blood work last week. They had to draw 4 viles of blood from her arm just like they do an adult. I was scared to death of how badly she would thrash and scream. My dear friend Alicia met me at the lab and helped me hold Kinley down so the tech could get the blood. Much to our surprise, she did not wiggle a bit! Right when the needle went in she closed her eyes and cried a really pathetic cry then after a second she started watching the blood fill the viles and she was calm. I was so proud of how brave she was. The hardest thing we had to do was get her to pee on command. She had four suckers in one hour because I was bribing and rewarding her for everything. We should know results next week. Due to the cost of a pediatric cardiologist we have decided to go back to our pediatrician for a recheck on her heart. If they are still concerned about the murmur then we will probably go for the echo next week.

Mallory is officially sitting up. She still topples occasionally but is doing really well balancing and grabbing toys. She needs to start sitting and rolling more because she is starting to get bored and telling me about it!

Last weekend Josh and I got to get away to a cabin at Big Cedar, thanks to Nana and Grandad! We were scheduled to stay Saturday through Tuesday. Once we heard there was going to be a winter storm we decided that we would stay because the weathermen often hype things up and we just didn't want to cut our vacation short. My parents had the kids and they said to go ahead and stay and see what happens. Well, it was snowpocalypse 2011, so we got to double our vacation! We ended up having to stay 6 nights! We loved every minute. We stayed in a cabin for three nights, a suite on the top floor of a lodge for two nights, then an end room on the top floor that had beautiful corner windows for the last night. We didn't mind all the moving, it kept us from going stir crazy and we got a clean room every couple of days! We played games, watched movies, read books, played Wii, and reveled in having cable TV. We did nothing of worth and it was bliss! The 9 hours of white knuckle driving to get home took a toll on the relaxation but we are home and unpacked and still refreshed from our break.

Bop and Gigi kept the kids for our long vacation. They loved being snowed in together. Above they are zoning out to a movie - I love the TV zone face! They did all kinds of fun things...the kids are going to think real life is so boring.

The pictures don't do it justice but these are pictures of the views at Big Cedar in the snow.

James, Kinley and I went to the dentist this week. They were AMAZING! Kinley went first and she was so brave. James hadn't been too sure that he was going to let the dentist do her job on him until he saw how well Kinley did. His first experience at the dentist last year isn't his favorite memory. The hygienist showed them all the tools and let them use them all. She also had several drawers of toys hidden around her station for them to play in while I had my teeth cleaned. Other than having to leave my left leg for payment and making a second appointment in which they will require my right leg and one arm to help my jaw problem it was a great experience.

Kinley is slowly getting into girly things. She hasn't had a lot of experience with them because James has schooled her more in the art of a good sword fight, and the kind of bullets you need for a shotgun. Her natural bent for the finer things in life is finding its way out though. She got a new pretty pink dress and danced and twirled in it. She kept saying she was a princess, then out of the blue she asked "do princesses poop?" I guess she had to make sure she still qualified because she definitely poops. I should have told her princesses don't poop in their diapers!

January has held it's share of sickness. We got home from Christmas on the 28th and the 29th James and Kinley had fevers. James' got high quickly and we got an antibiotic before the long weekend but he still had a fever of 104 for eight days before he got better. Kinley has now had a 99-101 fever for 19 days. We went back to the doctor last week and her strep test was positive so they gave her an antibiotic too but she has been on it 7 days and still has the fever. I guess we will be back at the doctor on Monday for better antibiotics.

Mallory is quiet the drool machine. She looks like a sweaty man that just left the gym. There are still no teeth to show for all that drool. She is just beginning to sit up on her own for a few seconds at a time. She is very hard to make giggle especially for the camera but she'll flash a good smile anytime.

We went to her 6 month appointment and she weighed 18 lbs and was 27 in.

In the last month we have had to buy a new kitchen sink faucet and dishwasher. It has provided Josh and James with a lot of male bonding time. Josh installed it all himself and replaced some old piping while he was at it. It is so fun to watch James hang on to every word Josh says and move he makes. My mom asked if he wanted to go stay at her house this weekend without his sisters and he said "yeah!... but it's Saturday and that is Daddy stay home day" we encouraged him to go and that they could hang out next weekend. He ended up going but it was so cute how concerned he was about missing out on Daddy's home time.

Mallory is growing like crazy and I would give anything to push the pause button! Since she is the last baby I have started to get rid of things like swaddle blankets and 0-6 month clothes and it is breaking my heart. I never thought I would cry over making space in my home but getting rid of those sweet little blankets made me cry and I didn't care about the space they were taking. She will be six months on the 9th. She is sleeping and eating like a pro. She is content doing whatever we need her too. She smiles constantly and her eyes sparkle like diamonds. Below is her first meal in her high chair.

Her first ride in a swing. She giggled as she was swinging.

We took the kids to see Santa at Bass Pro Shop. We considered it successful because no one cried and the big two actually voiced their Christmas present wishes. James asked for a medium sized stuffed panda bear (medium meaning the same size as stuffed polar bear so they can play together) and Kinley asked for a pink puppy dog.

We did Advent boxes this year. It was interesting. The kids loved opening the boxes but acted totally uninterested in the spiritual component each evening. As the month went on I tried to get more creative on how to apply the Bible truths and stories to their life. Some of our favorites were building a ginger bread house (of course), hiding God's word in our hearts (we played hide and seek with our paper hearts), and serving each other as Jesus did when He washed the disciples feet. I had Kinley wash and lotion James' feet then he washed and lotioned her feet. When Kinley finished she said "James, I love you" and when James finished he said "Kinley, I love you". It was one of those rare and amazingly sweet moments. I think we might have to repeat this activity every few months!

She is lovin' the camera these days...she actually requests that pictures be taken of her when she feels she is particularly cute.

Wednesday before Christmas we went to OKC to see my family. We stayed until late Christmas Eve. We had a great time relaxing and playing. While we were there we managed to break two bowls, a large ornament, and a bottle of Patron tequila. I think they were ready to see us leave!

We made Jesus birthday whoopie pies, went to church, played with cousins, opened presents and ate pizza.

Christmas morning we woke up at Grandad and Nanna's. Santa had been there and he brought what they wanted.

We enjoyed Duncan and our Morris family. We played games, enjoyed the horses, dogs, fire pit, and pond. James put the hard sell on me AGAIN to have a dog. He told me I had two choices either live in a box or take Charlie (the farm dog) home. I chose live in a box until he told me I had to come out to help him with the things he couldn't do on his own. The kid is going to have to have a dog someday.

We got home from Duncan Tuesday night and Wednesday James and Kinley got fevers. James got to 104 and stayed there for five days. Kinley's fever was between 99 and 100 and still hasn't gone away. I have no idea what they got but I sure got a lot done around the house being stuck there for five days. We enjoyed a lot of cuddle time, movies, and naps. It has been really nice to just be slow and lazy after the holidays. I am kind of dreading getting back into a productive routine.

If you read our blog only in the update email you may want to visit www.jklmorris.blogspot.com because I added text to the pictures I posted last week.

We had our first professional pictures taken in November.

Here are a few random ones that we like.

James built a "magnificent" fort in the backyard. He even added a flag with his name on it so that all the bad guys would know who lives there.

Mallory sacked out after and intense session of rattle training.

Celebrated Christmas just the five of us this last Sunday. We woke up and decorated our gingerbread house. We caught up on our Advent boxes that we had missed from being too busy for anybody's good. Then we cooked our annual tamale dinner and took it to a family from our church. Once we got home we ate and opened presents. We had a wonderful day together learning about Jesus and celebrating Him and His love for us.

I will try to do a better job updating so that I can remember all the funny stories about the kids now that we have a working computer. We might even be able to do video again!

We went to Bass Pro to try to see Santa but he wasn't there. So we tinkered around his workshop instead. He had guns and cars and stuffed animals, they loved it. I think their stances holding the guns are so funny. I asked Kinley if she wanted to go see Santa and she said "I don't like Santa...and he doesn't like me." I don't know what went on between them but it must have been bad.

We celebrated Josh's birthday November 20th. I let the kids pick out the cake and they chose green cake (very appetizing by the way), white and blue icing and LOTS of sprinkles. We had a little scavenger hunt for Daddy to find his present which was a book he's been wanting. We also got him new Dallas Cowboys and OSU hats. Those weren't a surprise because he had to pick them out.

Out computer's hard drive went out so we just got a new computer and I am trying to update the posts that I did on my phone!

Look at our little girl! She is getting so big! She asked me to take a picture of her in her new clothes and she chose to pose by the wall like this. I think she likes attention!

Kinley woke up with a stomach bug a couple of weeks ago. She was so lethargic she just slept wherever she was, would sit up to throw up then lay back down and fall asleep. She did this for about 4 hours then she was good as new. It was so funny and sad.

James and Kinley were playing dress up one day and I left Mallory in the room with them. When I came back in this is what I found. They said they wanted her to be a princess too. She liked it too!

Mallory has grown so much! We are finished breastfeeding which is really sad but really nice. She is eating about 35 oz per day and eats solids three times. Broccoli is her favorite! She is sleeping a good 12 hours at night and taking three naps. She is still a perfect baby. She is smiling and giggling a lot.